This section is intended to provide a background or context to the invention that is recited in the claims. The description herein may include concepts that could be pursued, but are not necessarily ones that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated herein, what is described in this section is not prior art to the description and claims in this application and is not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
Certain abbreviations that may be found in the description and/or in the Figures are herewith defined as follows:    ARQ automatic repeat-request    CQI channel quality indication    C-RNTI cell radio network temporary identifier    DRB data radio bearer    DRX discontinuous reception    DL downlink    eDDA enhancements for diverse data application    eNB base station    HARQ hybrid automatic repeat-request    HFN hyper frame number    IDC in-device co-existence    IE information element    NAS non-access stratum    Node B base station in UTRAN    MAC medium access control layer    PDCP packet data convergence protocol layer    PHY physical layer    PPI power preference indication    QoS quality of service    RACH random access channel    RAN radio access network    RLC radio link control    RN relay node    RPLMN registered public land mobile network    RRC radio resource control    RS reference signal    SDU service data unit    SFN system frame number    SMC security mode command    SN serving network    UE user equipment
A long-term evolution (LTE) system, initiated by the third generation partnership project (3GPP), is a radio interface and network architecture that provides high data rates, low latency, and packet optimization with improved system capacity and coverage. In the LTE system, an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (EUTRAN) includes a plurality of evolved Node-Bs (eNBs) and communicates with a plurality of mobile stations, also referred to as user equipment (UE). The radio protocol stacks of E-UTRAN includes a radio resource control layer (RRC), a packet data convergence protocol layer (PDCP), a radio link control layer (RLC), a medium access control layer (MAC), and a physical layer (PHY).
Radio resource control (RRC) signaling can include RRC connection reconfiguration signaling used by eNBs and UEs to modify a RRC connection, such as to establish/modify/release the RRC connection, to perform handover, to setup/modify/release measurements, and to establish/modify/release radio bearers. RRC states include a RRC Idle state where user equipment is not actively communicating with a radio access network, and RRC Connected state where the radio is active and connected to an eNB. The eNB has a downlink signaling configurations determining the time instants where the UE shall receive the scheduling and paging information. For power saving purposes, an eNB may configure time periods when the UE shall monitor downlink control signals. During other times the UE is allowed to go to power saving mode during which eNB cannot assume that the UE would listen for downlink signals. This relates to a discontinuous reception (DRX) period, which causes the UE to shut off its radio for periods of time to save power.
As coverage of data networks has increased, such as including WiFi networks, the demand for diverse smartphone applications also have increased. The significant amount of mobile applications present challenges to connectivity and power savings operations of the devices in view of the ubiquitous nature of these applications. One such challenge relates to these mobile applications running in the background on a UE which tend to require an always on connection with the network.